"As a member of the European Parliament author Marietje Schaake was on the vanguard of
politicians who recognized that no technology is inherently "democratic" only with careful
regulations can we protect the disruption of democracy from AI and other innovations that might
undermine it. And yet such laws are largely absent especially in the United States which
lags behind European regulators and has long subscribed to the Silicon Valley mantra that
regulation stifles innovation. This problem has become more urgent than ever as an ecosystem of
small and invisible tech players are gradually taking over crucial tasks formerly exercised by
democratic governments-from intelligence gathering to policing voting and more. Some tech
companies have even come to resemble nations in terms of their structure and scale. Tech
companies now have the means and the abilities to set policies in the digital world-a world
which comprises more of our lives every day. In this book Schaake illuminates the ways in
which democracies around the world are increasingly run on technology that few in government
can understand let alone regulate. Technologies we expected to help boost democracy (such as
Twitter during the Arab Spring uprisings) are now being used by authoritarians and more and
more digital products created in democracies are being exported and used for repressive means
elsewhere. Schaake also discusses what can be done pointing to successes within some European
counties as well as ideas not yet in place but necessary for the preservation of democracy
moving forward. The result is a book balanced between presenting the dangers we face in clear
terms and outlining a vision for a safer more democratic future"--
